


Captured in Amber

by thanhbear



Category: SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Upload, Character Death - Kinda, Digital Afterlife, Lots of Capitalism, M/M, They start off dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26276860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanhbear/pseuds/thanhbear
Summary: “Memory is all we are. Moments and feelings, captured in amber, strung on filaments of reason. Take a man’s memories and you take all of him."— Mark Lawrence.Life doesn't have to stop after death. Baekhyun chose to have his consciousness uploaded to an afterlife digital cloud heaven. He adjusts to his new life with thanks to customer service rep, Taeyong. Taeyong just never expected to have a ghost helping him live life as well.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 7
Kudos: 12





	1. The Last Sleep — The Final Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> If you've ever watched something new and said "this is great but would be better if it's gay and with my otp," then you know why I had to do this

‘That’ll come out of your paycheck,’ they said.

‘I.T. will come for your neck,’ they said.

‘You don’t get paid to doodle. You get paid to render,’ they said.

Truth be told, Taeyong barely got paid enough to do that. Therefore, he continued to draw on all of his work-issued equipment. It had been more than four years and he was still here at this godforsaken job without any upgrades. To say Horizon, in turn, offered great benefits or great policies in place would be giving them too much credit. The 50% off discount towards a digital life plan for friends and family was both morose and the only thing worth his time.

That incentive kept him glued to this place—Well, that and the fact that he was _good_ at his job. Or so he tried to convince his manager on a quarterly basis. He could’ve been a senior artist for the VIPs by now creating bodies for celebrities, one-hit wonders, _and_ corrupt politicians. Being part of Lee Taemin’s team would actually be an achievement.

Yet he was stuck here in Level 1 Angel customer service. It wasn't without recognition all the time though. Sometimes he got to lead meetings… for Diversity Celebration week.

“Psst,” His deskmate, Ten, hissed. "Director LSM’s coming.” A paper ball flung into the side of Taeyong's head. Taeyong always reminded him to choose one or the other. The whisper or the projectile. The switch to an open office setting was a mistake. If given the chance, he wanted his cubicle walls back.

Halos of LED lights ignited around each keyboard letter as Taeyong furiously tapped on them to wake his computer up. He couldn't afford to get a single character of his password wrong. The capitalized letter,

One number,

One special character that wasn't a forward slash or underscores,

A capital letter,

The minimum of 8 characters total,

He was in.

Just in time as the director passed by. "Don't draw on that. How many times do I have to tell you, Taeyang?"

Taeyong shot a tired look over at Ten.

“He’s getting closer." Ten mouthed and held two thumbs up. At least, someone’s optimism remained intact.

Taeyong spared no effort to conceal his eye roll.

No matter how he looked at his queue today... First name ascending or last name ascending, the same name sat at the top of his assigned queue. He kept clicking back and forth a few more times simply to waste time. Nothing changed. Not much luck when the deceased’s name was Byun Baekhyun.

Frown lines appeared around his mouth when he saw Baekhyun's age on the file. Seeing anybody under 50 had that effect. Taeyong’s left-hand presses a few keyboard short cuts in succession while his right maneuvered the mouse.

_File > New Avatar_

_BYUN_BAEKHYUN_350622.sol_

_Image > Reference Load_

The initialization window popped up. The status bar jumped from 0% to 5%. He groaned at the progress–or lack thereof. He remembered that his computer force updated overnight and everything was booting up for the first time today. Choosing “Restart Later" only prevented the inevitable for so long. Some people preferred to have their computer running all the programs at all times and their desktop sounding like a jet engine with rocks thrown into it. Taeyong was part of that group.

In the meantime, he pulled up the memory folders. On-screen, the memory software played out the scene from behind Baekhyun's eyes. A hologram battle scene of creatures appeared before Baekhyun's monitor. Taeyong hummed along to the LoL Beyond Remastered 20th anniversary theme. With a little patience, he knew he'd find his references.

When the monitor went black before the loading screen came up, Taeyong sprung forward to pause the memory. He dragged his stylus down the trackpad and captured a shot of Baekhyun's reflection.

The face constructor finally loaded in time for him to drop the first reference in. The program began digitizing each pixel and the AI went to work creating the framework. Several facial features scrambled on the blank model until they all settled into place. 

The second screenshot came from a selfie taken just before the toilet flushing sounds. “Mood,” Taeyong thought to himself and snorted out a laugh. The photo came out with Baekhyun looking effortlessly casual with his cool guy vibe. Everything about it stood in contrast with the belligerent cursing from the gaming memories. 

The avatar was rendered in full color now. Taeyong looked at the avatar. And then he kept looking at it. He flicked his pen over the face here and there. The _vibe_ wasn't there for him yet. The cheeks weren't round enough or the eyes weren't soft enough.

His five-star reviews often started with the accuracy of his avatars. If someone died and paid to be part of this human zoo, the least he could do was get the details down. He moved the magnification slider to 140%. The screen moved along with the contour of Baekhyun's top lip. When Taeyong arrived at the top left corner of Baekhyun's lips, he added a small mole. There.

The program began exporting the avatar file. He turned his earbuds on and pulled his mic closer.

“Hello, Mr. Byun." A single peak appeared on the brainwave monitor. So far, so good.

"I can see your moon sign is Gemini so you probably have a lot of questions right now." He chuckled softly. "Just a little humor. I promise I will answer everything soon. But first, can you think your full name for me?"

With bated breath, Taeyong waited so he could get a brainwave shot for a password. Or passthought to be more accurate. A few seconds passed by without any change in the brainwaves. The pause came off as hesitancy from the customer in Taeyong’s experience.

“Saying your name can reveal a lot. The order of how you arrange your surname and first name is a big culture recall factor. The place you grew up in. The people in your community. Surname helps with family identification. As for the first name, there are strong personal associations. You always remember how it sounds when you introduce yourself. The first time your parents addressed you. Work achievements in your name. The tender call from a lover—"

His screen jumped to the next screen. A sense of pride filled his chest, knowing that his speech did it again.

"Oh," his voice fell flat after looking at the details. “You opted to sign in via Facebook. That works too."

He braced his hands against the back of his head. A heavy sigh fell from his lips. The rate of glitches in self uploaders was high. If there were any present, they would appear at this stage. He needed his numbers buffed up. Not only did he have to make sure to tend to the other souls assigned to him but upload at least five a day from this point forward. He already burned an hour and a half into his shift setting Baekhyun up due to the distractions that came up. 

“You're doing very well so far, Baekhyun. On three, I would like for you to open your eyes. 1… 2…” Taeyong took a deep inhale. His hands clasped tightly together until his knuckles blanched. 

"3.”

The monitor client program went from a black screen to a scene of a Victorian-style bedroom ceiling.

The tensions in his shoulders melted with the release of his held breath. He punched into the air with both fists victoriously. 

“Welcome to Lakeview. Your afterlife starts here."


	2. Sincerest Form of Flattery

The wheels of Ten’s chair rumbled across the floor as he slid over. “Did you just get to the initiating stage? He’s doing the whole ‘where’s the voice coming from’ dance.”

Taeyong muted his mic and without taking his eyes off Baekhyun pacing around the screen. "I wasn’t stalling. He was a selfie.”

“Oooh, that’s rough. At least, his chart looks normal right now. Hey—” Ten battled against Taeyong’s swatting hands, trying to hit certain commands on the other’s keyboard.

“Stop that. Let me wrap this up.”

“I just wanna see his profile.”

“Well, I wanna see you back up.”

“He looks cute. Let me see, Taeyong.”

The back and forth of their hands grew into a flurry. Windows maximized and minimized all across Taeyong’s screens. Their stifled snickers covered the key clicks and hand slaps. One of Taeyong’s pushes was more forceful than intended. It sent Ten leaning too far over one side of his chair. He caught himself but not without making a clatter.

Taeyong instinctively peeked over the top of his monitors. His supervisor was thankfully still swiping around on their phone. Taeyong’s eyes closed as he patted his chest. A relieved breath exited his system.

The sounds from the rolling of Ten’s chair became fainter until he returned to his desk.

An instant message notification popped up over the live feed of Baekhyun.

「 _NEW MESSAGE_ 」

_Ten: Sry didn’t mean to be loud_

_Taeyong: it’s not ur fault. they didn’t even notice so i’m safe_

_Ten: So you’re still trying with this job? What happened to “What are they going to do? Fire me?” xD_

_Taeyong: i’m not scared of that. i want to avoid the b-tching lol_

The messenger window fell back into the taskbar and revealed the live feed in full again. Taeyong removed the mute then leaned towards the mic again.

“Hello again,” he said gently.

Baekhyun’s head snapped up from looking at the mirror. “Wow, you even got all my little moles. That’s impressive. Do I call you Siri?”

"No, I am not Siri. Not Alexa either. But I do appear as soon as you call for me, so it’s the same mechanics. You can always summon me by calling out ‘Angel’.”

"That's kinda corny.” Baekhyun's lips turned upward.

“Y-Yeah, a bit." A nervous laugh came out—The type that got called the Customer Service Chuckle. Taeyong’s mind couldn't get a grasp on his usual script in this situation. The thought of Ten’s message flashed in his mind. Why _was_ he still trying so hard?

“Ah… To be honest, Baekhyun, there’s not a lot here that isn’t corny. Did you not see the pamphlet?” He chuckled.

“You’re definitely human, aren’t you, Angel? AIs don’t really have much humor. Much like those cafe servers who spell your name wrong on purpose.”

The policies bounded each angel to a shroud of secrecy. It prevented any client from getting too attached to one person which was an answer to the revolving door problem Horizon had. People with higher standards and dignity didn’t stay here for long. Even rarer were the people who actually moved up the promotion chain.

“Hmm, sorry. I cannot confirm nor deny that. If you know, you know.”

Something glistened in Baekhyun’s eyes like he just heard something of interest. “A challenge? I’ll definitely find out. Maybe you can answer this question for me though. Why is this place set up with the Victorian theme instead of white clouds and a gate to stay on-theme?"

Because it's developed by white guys who play golf for white guys they want to play golf against. That was what Taeyong wanted to say. Instead, his muscle memory launched into the standard, “Lakeview version 3.1.a does come with additional customizable options. If you want the Christian version of heaven, we have white robes with a 600 thread count in partnership with Amazon Afterlife Beta. You can test them out for 30 days before you purchase.”

A chime played in his ear. It indicated that he just added another count towards his ads quota. Baekhyun’s face was an open book with his disgust written all over the pages. Usually, an Angel could easily pitch the ads-free experience of Lakeview from this point.

“Um… Speaking of religious beliefs, I see that your Facebook says you practice Christianity. Lakeview accepts a wide variety of beliefs. If you look outside your window, you’ll see a little place off to the left. It takes a different form for everybody. For some, it's a temple, a church, or a bowling alley.”

“Damn, that’s definitely a church… From a Taurus to whatever you are, can you keep a secret?”

“Whatever I am,” Taeyong snorted. “I’m a Cancer and your secret is safe with me.”

“A Cancer? You're definitely going to tell your best friend right away.”

He glanced over at Ten and remembered every instance where he relayed confidential client information without hesitation. “You can’t prove that.”

“You’re right. I can’t because I made it up.” Baekhyun sat down in the seat by the window with a high-pitched giggle. “I changed my Facebook info when I knew I was going to transfer to Lakeview. I thought it would give me extra perks since this place seemed kind of white.”

As Baekhyun confessed, Taeyong did a quick scroll to the personal details that auto-populated over into the system. “So… You’re not a straight Christian man with a Master’s degree from Cornell who’s currently part of… _Five_ non-profit companies? Well, I can at least confirm that you’re not white.” He had to bite down on his lip in order to not laugh into the mic.

“To be fair, I read about this in the Afterlife-Hacks subreddit. That’ll be the first and last time I trust widows on Reddit. Which belief would I have to put down to get a PC cafe?”

「 _NEW MESSAGE_ 」

_Ten: What’s so funny over there?_

Minimized.

“Agnostic,” Taeyong responded. “I heard Unitarian Universalism could be fun in its own way. One client hosts biweekly BDSM bondage parties at their church.”

“No, you’re making that up.”

“I’m not! But don’t tell anybody I told you that.”

“If they ask me, I’ll just say ‘ _you can’t prove that_.’”

“Holy shit. I mean, crap—” Taeyong couldn’t hold it together. Baekhyun’s face with his lips pursed tight and gaze sharpened was too much to behold. But it was his spot-on intonation that sent the laugh past Taeyong’s lips.

In his own bout of proud laughter, Baekhyun clapped his hands together. “If you like that one, you should hear my Kim Hyesoo.”

「 _NEW MESSAGE_ 」

_Ten: I hope you know I’m just gonna ask again during break :)_

_Taeyong: it’s funnier in the moment_

_Ten: How many moments are you having over there?_

“Angel? Are you still there? Did I make a reference that’s too obscure?” Baekhyun’s smile lines fell. The crescents that his eyes formed filled out with something that looked like concern.

“I’m still here. I know Ms. Kim Hyesoo. I’m wondering which movie you’ll imitate. I’m hoping it’s Tazza.”

“If you know, you know,” Baekhyun grinned.

_He’s annoying_ , Taeyong shook his head.

“Angel, can I roam around a little on my own? I don’t like playing games with a starting tutorial. I’ll call if I think I might die again.”

“Sure. I’ll check on you occasionally just to make sure you’re acclimating. It was nice to meet you, Baekhyun.”

“Nice you to meet you too. I still think you are or were human. Either you have good taste in movies or you’re Korean. I’ll figure it out. See you soon.” He raised up out of the armchair and waved at the ceiling. Everybody tended to assume there were cameras in Lakeview because that was what they were used to as humans. It was that recall of humanity that kept things familiar and comfortable for them.

Losing that and embracing that everything around them comprised of one’s and zero’s had a way of fucking with their minds. Taeyong never looked forward to that stage with his clients. Baekhyun was bright but Taeyong hoped that Baekhyun wouldn’t reach that stage any time soon.

Taeyong waved back at his screen even if his conversation partner wouldn’t see.

「 _NEW MESSAGE_ 」

_Taeyong: i’m still trying :( i can’t stop getting attached to them_


End file.
